Amy Thorpe
June 30th, 2022

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NATO headquarters (photo: NATO/Flickr)

Danish PM Mette Frederiksen has said she believes the Nordic countries will be stronger with Sweden and Finland in NATO.

Frederiksen’s statement comes after a formal invitation to join NATO was put forth to the countries on Wednesday June 29, paving the way for a stronger European front against Russia.

“I would like to warmly welcome our good neighbours Sweden and Finland to NATO,” said Frederiksen. “It will strengthen the transatlantic alliance and our common security, and the Nordic countries will stand united in NATO. It’s simply great news.”

Sweden and Finland gave up a decades-long aversion to joining NATO to announce their desire for membership in May – an action motivated by President Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Since then, Turkey has been their most significant roadblock to accession, with the NATO member state accusing Sweden and Finland of enabling Kurdish militantism.

Turkey dropped its opposition on Tuesday June 28 following independent negotiations with the two Nordic nations.

No more “naivety”
With the added forces of Finland and Sweden, NATO will soon be better equipped to address Russian tyranny – a problem that Frederiksen believes has been long underestimated.

“There is no doubt there has been naivety for too long, which fortunately is over,” she said. “From the Russian side, we see an illegal invasion of another country and old-fashioned means of power to change the demarcation of borders in Europe.”

Frederiksen also affirmed Denmark’s own commitment to supporting NATO in light of Putin’s war, despite Denmark being one of just five member states not to devote 2 percent or more to defence spending.

“We have not had a stronger NATO commitment than there is today,” she stated. “We make a very strong contribution to Ukraine, and our allies also recognise that.”

To date, the United Nations estimates that 8.4 million Ukrainians have fled Ukraine, and close to 5,000 civilians have been killed.